News & Information

Outbreaks of deadly violence are a recurring event in today’s society. Deadly shootings on expressways, in residential areas and public establishments are on the rise, posing significant danger to people in communities nationwide. This risk has prompted many Gallagher Bassett (GB) clients to call on the resources of the Risk Control Consulting Services (RCCS) division to help them prepare to take action against unexpected threats of violence. For a GB nursing home client, training conducted on the topic of Armed Intruder/Active Shooter/Facility Lockdown helped them protect their establishment when a deadly home invasion occurred in the middle of the night a few doors down the block.

The attempted robbery of a residential dwelling resulted in a homeowner fatally shooting one of the perpetrators. The others fled the scene, leading police on a vehicular pursuit where they were later apprehended and arrested. Down the street from the incident, a nursing home facility put their newly developed lockdown plan into action. Just two weeks earlier, GB-RCCS worked with the nursing home to develop a plan to address two risks: an Armed Intruder/Active Shooting incident occurring within their facility and this same incident occurring outside of their property within the community at large.

Gallagher Bassett Associate Loss Control Consultant Stan Szpytek assisted the facility with providing a plan, training staff and working with public service contacts within the community to carry out the lockdown drill. He comments, “The exercise required extensive training of staff by the facility’s Emergency Preparedness Coordinator supported by GB-RCCS. Several planning meetings were conducted to help ensure a successful exercise. Based on my connections to the community in my former capacity as Deputy Fire Chief, we were able to help facilitate local police and fire department participation in the drill.”

Prior to carrying out the drill, facility staff were trained on the procedures necessary for implementation. Special focus was placed on the fact that this type of exercise could be stressful to the facility’s residents. A great deal of effort was placed on providing full transparency of what was about to take place when the drill commenced. No part of the exercise was to be a surprise to any of the residents, especially given the disconcerting nature of the exercise; addressing an armed intruder/active shooter situation.

Late on the night of the nearby attempted armed robbery, Stan received a text from his contact at the nursing home reporting that the facility had to go into lockdown in response to the incident. According to his contacts at the facility, “The recent training and drill is being credited for a successful real-world operation.”

Gallagher Bassett currently conducts regular Evacuation and Shelter-in-Place Drills at select religious and nonprofit client locations. Gallagher Bassett has the resources and personnel to conduct these types of drills for any client, regardless of the industry.

Thankfully for the client, no one was threatened or hurt at the nursing home. The perpetrators never had the opportunity to breach the facility because it was successfully locked down. All police activity including a manhunt in the surrounding area took place subsequent to the crime scene down the street.